Beijing Executives Urge Closer Promotion of Brand Caribbean In China

Dr. Ma Lin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government, second from right and Mr. Cao, Pengcheng, Vice Chairman of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development were among the panellists on the “Bejing-Caribbean Tourism And Investment Opportunity” panel at Invest Caribbean Now 2014. (Sharon Bennett/ICN image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. June 10, 2014: The prospects are good for Beijing and the Caribbean region to enhance cooperation in developing tourism and boosting their respective economic and social progress.

That’s the view from Dr. Ma Lin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government, who brought welcoming remarks to delegates at Invest Caribbean Now 2014 and who was also part of the “Bejing-Caribbean Tourism And Investment Opportunity” panel at the summit on June 4th in New York City.

Dr. Lin called for a deeper understanding of Beijing and the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF), so that they can “enhance exchanges and cooperation and promote common development.”

He noted that the rapid growth of outbound tourism from China has made it a rising industry. In 2013, the number of outbound tourists reached 93.4 million, spending 117.6 billion U.S. dollars overseas in total. It is expected that by 2020, the number of China’s outbound tourists will increase by over 200 million, offering huge potential.

“Therefore, there are good prospects for China and the Caribbean region, especially Beijing and the Caribbean region to enhance cooperation in developing tourism and boosting their respective economic and social progress.” Dr. Lin addressed the over 200 delegates gathered, who included several Caribbean ministers of governments as well as top US and Caribbean companies like Merrill Lynch, the World Bank Group, Goldman Sachs, OPIC, Bright Capital, Aegis Capital,Medici Group, Adiuvo Partners LLP, The Lugano Group, The Woody Wilson Fine Clothing of Beverly Hills, Global Med Choices, American World Clinic; MPowered, Aspenall Energies, Sandals Resorts International, DHL Caribbean, HBO Latin America, One Caribbean Television, First Citizens TT, InvesTT, interCaribbean Airways, Bright Capital and Sir Richard Branson’s, Carbon War Room.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cao, Pengcheng, Vice Chairman of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, urged Caribbean ministers of tourism and leaders to join the WTCF as a first step in order to enhance their brand promotion to Beijing and Chinese tourists.

He agreed with Dr. Lin that due to inconvenient transportation and lack of information exchanges, most citizens from Beijing are unaware of tourism in the Caribbean region, and only a small proportion of China’s outbound tourists visit the Caribbean region.

But he said that through closer collaboration and membership within the WTCF and promotion at the annual expo in Beijing in September, the Caribbean tourism destinations can help boost promotion for their tourism sectors and attract more tourists from Beijing and China.

At present, the Caribbean region accounts for only a small proportion of Chinese overseas visits, and no Caribbean cities or organizations have joined the WTCF.

The panel included Mr. Richard Nixon of NATCOM International and past Chargé d’ Affaires at Embassy of Grenadato China, who urged the Caribbean region to do a better job of packaging its projects for promotion in China, and Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center, who reiterated that the first step towards any real tourism promotion in Beijing and China must be through membership in the WTCF which will enhance promotion on a global level.

The panel was moderated by Arthur Piccolo, chairman of the New Sports Group.

Invest Caribbean Now was founded in 2011 by Hard Beat Communications CMO, Felicia J. Persaud. The 2014 ICN summit was presented under the theme, “Advancing Wealth.”

ICN 2014 also hosted several panel discussions including ‘Global Trends & The Caribbean;’ ‘Introducing The New Trend In Tourism – Medical Tourism;’ ‘Introducing A New Trend In The Caribbean – Clean Energy’, and the “Caribbean Diaspora as a source of investment.”

The first half of the event included remarks by Claire McLeveighn who brought greetings on behalf of New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo; an opening address by ICN founder and chairman, Felicia J. Persaud; a keynote address by Harvard graduate Dr. Isaac J. Newton, of Paramount Communications Consultancy; an investment announcement on the Caribbean Market Village of St. Lucia and a focus on ‘Advancing Wealth In The Caribbean With Technology,’ from Trinidad-born, LA resident, Anthony Wellington Phills, branding specialist of Disney’s ‘Million Dollar Arm’ and founder of Caribbean Commerce Magazine/Media, Calypso Cloud and Blinglet Inc.